The West

Carole and I have taken several trips out west. And I took one without her to go backpacking. And when I look at some of the photos I took and recall the places I saw, I still find it hard to believe that I got to go and see those sights and experience those moments.

Two Medicine, Glacier NP.

Devils Tower.

Iceberg Lake, Glacier NP,

Bison, Black Hills.

The Needles, Black Hills.

Blue Lakes, Colorado.

Rocky Mountain National Park.

Longs Peak, Rocky Mountain National Park.

Weminuche Wilderness, Colorado.

Weminuche Wilderness, Colorado.

Absaroka Mountains, Yellowstone National Park.

Geyser, Yellowstone.

Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.

Sleeping Grizzly bear. Lamar River, Yellowstone NP.

Bull Moose, Grand Tetons National Park.

Joshua Tree National Park, California.

Outside Joshua Tree NP.

Carole, in Joshua Tree NP.

The Big Heads!

My wife enjoys historical parks. If she sees one around an area we're going to be in then she makes plans for us to try to stop.  Because of this, I have seen some really great places, including the Wright Brothers Memorial, the Coal Mining Museum in Beckley WV (truly--everyone should see that one), the Laura Ingalls Wilder home in Missouri, and many others.

I have never really wanted to see Mount Rushmore, so I was reluctant to go. I just figured it for another giant statue of famous white guys. But, like the Wright Brothers Memorial on the Outer Banks, it's far more than that. It's a museum of natural history, of art history, of engineering potential, and one to get the heart pumping for those of us who are only subliminally susceptible to propaganda. It's an exceptionally effective history site and just about everyone should see it. The day we were there it was packed with foreign tourists--more foreigners than Americans I would say.

We also took some time to glimpse the slowly forming Crazy Horse Memorial not far from Rushmore. When I was younger I figured that one for a pipe dream, but it looks to be coming along, although at a snail's pace. Perhaps it will be completed.

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, we arrived to find Mount Rushmore completely sheathed in very thick rainclouds. So we wandered around in the museums and watched a film narrated by that moron Tom Brokaw. When we emerged from the theater we found that the clouds were beginning to break.

I reckon my favorite President on the mountain.

Borglum pushed for Teddy Roosevelt to be on the Monument. There was initial pushback against this, but he insisted and the committee relented. In retrospect he was proved right.

And as we left, the clouds completely lifted above the mountain, affording us an unobstructed view.

We saw some mountain goats on the entrance road as we were leaving the Monument.

I took this photo the next morning as we were packing up to leave Custer State Park. I really want to go back to visit this park again, and to stay for at least a week.

From there, it was on to our next destination...Wyoming's DEVILS TOWER NATIONAL MONUMENT!

The Black Hills, Part II

When we got to Custer State Park the weather turned really cool. We all ended up wearing long sleeves and hoodies and jackets. Also, it rained buckets while we were in the park. Not constant rain, but long periods of very heavy rainfall broken by overcast skies that merely threatened to cut loose.

The area is quite lush and I can understand why it supports such a large array of big animals. I really do want to go back and hike into the back country to see if I can spot a mountain lion.

As I mentioned in the previous post, the infrastructure of the park is excellent. The roads are well maintained. All of the campgrounds are very well equipped with flat parking areas, widely spaced, and possessing great bath facilities. The campground we used even had a music hall with a bluegrass band performing while we were there.

For one entire day we spent the hours exploring the park mainly by road, but taking time for short walking excursions and a couple of hikes. Our focus for the day was mainly to relax and then to hit the Mount Rushmore National Monument which Carole has always wanted to see.

Once again, I need to express that there are megafauna in the Black Hills. Here we passed some Bighorn sheep along the road.

We got a big kick out of watching the Prairie dogs in South Dakota!

I took this one at a parking area for a high lookout tower.

This range is named The Needles for obvious reason.

Rock and forest at high elevation.

Although called The Black "Hills", these mountains are higher than anything in the East by roughly 600 feet.

Sylvan Lake. This was a particularly beautiful spot where took a decent hike. There's a campground adjacent to the lake where I would love to stay.

I cautiously walk beneath huge chockstones along the trail.

Andy standing on the dam that creates Sylvan Lake.

Then we arrived at Mount Rushmore...to discover it completely hidden by thick, low rain clouds.

To be continued...